Chapter 48: A Useless Upgrade

"How about that? You think I'd dare face you head-on without some preparation?" I couldn't help but say happily. The battle technique I just thought up worked amazingly well on the first try!

That light red magic barrier was actually a common low-level physical defense spell from water magic. But I changed how it got its power - instead of coming from me, it used the fire elements the opponent sent out!

Fire elements powering water magic? This wasn't just made up! To explain, we need to start with how healing magic works.

Water magic heals by transforming elements into matter, not just boosting natural healing. Wise folks in Crescent City claim water elements become physical stuff, but this theory has flaws. Human flesh is complex, not just water. Often, mages lack power to change so much matter.

Low-level water spells easily heal small injuries, but directly changing elements to equal matter is far harder. This stark difference baffles element experts. They can't find the true reason or reach consensus.

My blue-winged state gives clearer insight. In healing magic, water elements don't directly become flesh. They catalyze nearby elements to join in. All element types transform into matter!

So water's real power is indirect element-to-matter conversion. It's a catalyst. No matter how fierce Michelle's flames, they're just one element type. As long as I supply water elements, stronger flames should theoretically make my barrier tougher!

"I see, you're just using human-made magic to cheat!" Michelle wasn't impressed for long. She quickly guessed how it worked and scoffed.

"If I use my weapon, your defense trick won't work at all. I guess I was overthinking things before!"

"What?" I froze, suddenly remembering how powerful her Hephaestus Sword was. I quickly reminded her, "You're not going back on your word, are you? You promised to capture me alive! You can't break your promise!"

I felt a bit ashamed - wasn't this basically begging the enemy for mercy? But facing Michelle alone was too hard. I had no idea how Galadra thought I could help. I felt like I couldn't hold on much longer, and the enemy wasn't even going all out yet!

"Don't worry, I can easily capture you alive without a weapon!" 

To my surprise, Michelle changed her mind. She charged at me again, still bare-handed.

I was happy at first, but suddenly realized this attack was totally different from before. The pressure was much stronger, the heat much more intense. The two couldn't be compared at all.

"When faced with absolute power, all tricks are useless!"

Before I could react, Michelle was right in front of me. She was so fast! My current body couldn't keep up at all. I could only keep retreating.

I had no way to face her head-on. She completely overpowered me in every way! I kept trying to use water elements to change her flames, which did reduce the damage from her attacks somewhat. But my newbie conversion speed couldn't handle everything. I just felt the temperature getting hotter and hotter. The most it could do was probably lower the heat a bit so I wouldn't get roasted too quickly.

I really underestimated her! Michelle had been holding back a lot before. Only by fighting her myself could I truly feel how amazing she was.

I felt frustrated. All I could do was hang on desperately, not knowing if I'd survive the next second.

Suddenly, it felt like something snapped in my mind under the pressure. Michelle looked at me with surprise and sighed.

"Tsk! You actually broke through in this situation!"

Broke through? Her words made me notice I now had an extra pair of wings on my back. I had eight wings now! And it was the first time I broke through while awake in my blue-winged state!

"I leveled up!"

It was like sweet rain after a long drought! Who knew I, Feliciana, would get a power-up like this! After leveling up, all my abilities improved. Even my element conversion speed visibly increased! For a moment, Michelle's movements didn't seem so hard to see. Maybe I still had a chance to fight?

"Hah! So what if you broke through? At most your power went from a few thousand to ten thousand. If we put a number on my current power - it's 530,000 of course!"

Michelle said this in a very cheesy way. She didn't care at all and laughed wildly as she attacked again with flaming fists.

This attack was even fiercer, way beyond the previous level. Her power seemed endless. Even though I just reached eight wings, I had no way to fully block this move. I could only raise my Water Abyss Sword to try one last defense.

I thought the Water Abyss Sword would go through her fist and into her body, or at least we'd both get hurt. But before her fist even touched the blade, I was shocked to see the whole sword starting to fade away in the flames, like it was evaporating.

"Since you don't remember anyway, I'll tell you some very bad news - if I want to, I can control all the elements in this world! If you haven't truly found your own power yet, even water elements are no different from other elements to me..."

Before she finished speaking, the Water Abyss Sword had completely disappeared. Then I lost control of water elements too. Without energy, my protective barrier instantly collapsed. Next was my body. The blue-winged state's defense was even worse than a normal angel's. In an instant, I felt like I was in an extremely hot furnace. One more second and I'd probably burn to ashes.

It still wasn't enough. Even after leveling up, I couldn't cross the huge gap between us. Was this upgrade useless in the end?

I tried my best, but felt discouraged. Luckily, a breeze seemed to blow by at the critical moment, somehow scattering the deadly heat. Soon the heat around me started to lessen. I realized the expected punch didn't actually hit my face. Did Michelle have a change of heart at the last second and stop to capture me alive?

When I carefully opened my eyes, I saw that wasn't the case. Someone had come to rescue me, but it wasn't Adrian who I was hoping for, or Mia and Sheryl . It was the most unexpected person.

"Nicola?"

Looking at the eight gray-white wings behind her, I suddenly felt like it had been ages. But I was also confused and couldn't help asking:

"Why are you here?"

Wasn't avoiding her one of the reasons I accepted Galadra's request in the first place? Although that was only part of it, how did she find this place? And how did she know we were here?